A Chat Noir in the Shadows
by crystal3604
Summary: What was Adrien's life like before becoming Chat Noir? One-shot!


"Gabriel! STOP! STO-" I stood behind the couch like a coward I am, watching my parents fight and shout at each other. My father punched my mother and in turn she took the vase and threw it at him. _CRASH!_ He got up even more angrier than before and started to chase her. She skips and turns avoiding his punches. She isn't afraid of my father unlike the maids and butlers. She isn't afraid to speak up unlike me.

They don't know I am here sitting behind the couch engulfed in darkness. Its midnight and I thought of going to drink some water from the kitchen when suddenly I heard a loud crash. I quickly hid behind the nearest thing I could find because it's a habit I developed due to my usually drunk father.

"YOU! YOU DON'T GO AGAINST ME!" He hit her again. I wanted to do something. But what? I can't talk reasonably with him. He is going to beat me just like he is beating up mom. I want to be brave! I want to save her!

I ran into the middle of my parents fight. Making sure that I am blocking my father from hitting mother again. "Stop." I said firmly meeting his eyes. Father just gave a slight chuckle and slapped me across the face really hard. I took a step back wincing in pain.

"What are you going to do if I don't? Brat?" My father laughed while my mother pulled me across the room. She started running towards the door and I tried to keep up with her with my, much shorter feet. We ran from room to room silently as possible. When we entered the hallways thinking it was safe, we heard footsteps behind us. It was getting closer. I felt scared.

"Is he going to hit me mommy?" I asked completely out of breath due to all the running.

"Not if I am here to protect you." She turned to look at me. Behind the bruises and scars I could barely see her reassuring smile. We took the elevator down and finally made it outside. The security guards never questioned us because fathers restriction didn't reach them yet. We had probably 5 minutes before the security stops us. I was tired and sleepy but the fear inside kept me wide awake.

"Chat!" My mom exclaimed in relief when she saw a man in a black tight suite. He had black pointy cat ears and a mask covering half of his face. "Thank you so much for coming. Andy come. Please don't be alarmed. Meet your dad, Chat Noire. Chat meet Adrien, your son.." Mother looked finally relieved. Like a weight was lifted off from her shoulders. Her smile was genuine and she looked like she was going to bounce off with joy.

"Dad?" I questioned. No one can have two biological dads. Or is it possible? Before I could think it through a chair was thrown across the driveway. Chat picked up my mother and jumped a feet away, avoiding the chair and landing on his two feet without any injury. I was too far away from the attack to have a scratch. My mother smiled and kissed him on the lips. Which was sweet… kind of.. I really don't know how to feel about this.

"ALLISON! Stop this nonsense at once!" Gabriel roared. "Adrien, go back to your room and go to sleep, while me and your mother discuss how to get rid off this stray cat in our property."

"Stray cat?! He saved my life Gabriel!" My mother shouted. "Were you trying to leave me even more bruised? How.. How am I going to model again? You can't lock me up in a tower any time you want just for your entertainment!"

"Mademoiselle asked for help so I'm here at your service, Gabriel Argeste. I'm here for no harm. So..Allison is he your problem?" Chat whispered the last part while pointing at my father. I stood unsure of what to do. First of all he is my dad? Then am I part cat? But cat walks on all fours… "I walk with two feet.." I accidently said out loud.

"Adrien! Stop wandering with your ridiculous imaginations! What did I say? " My father pulled me by my ear and started to shout again. Really, if he screams one more time I might go deaf.

"Go to your room and go to sleep." I say quietly. He let go of my ear and I slowly went back upstairs. After reaching my room I opened my window and tried to hearing their conversation. Though I can feel tension from up here it was useless. I tried waiting for them to come back up but I couldn't keep awake so I fell asleep.

When I woke up the next morning it was 12pm. It was a weekend so waking late didn't matter unless father wakes up before me. Considering what happened last night I think he will sleep another hour more before dealing with work.

"Adrien, you are awake." My maid, Merissa gave a smile as she entered the room with my breakfast. Merissa is 20 year old girl with grey to blue eyes and dark black hair. She is like an older sister I never had and she is expected to get married to a carpenter next month. Enough description? I guess so. "Did you sleep well?"

"No. Usual Nightmares but this time its extra special." I reply wondering on the weird dream.

"Oh. What's so special?" She asks while placing the spoons and forks on its correct places on the table near my bed.

"My mom had me from a cat. A black cat."

"W-Where did you here about this? Adrien did you sneak into my diary again? I told you I am not in love with the carpenter. Its just for financial reasons and yes, Marco the chef is pretty cute. But he would never love me…" Merissa flustered.

"So its true."

"Me and Marco or the black cat?"

"Black cat."

" Ugh Adrieeen. Allison trusted me sooo much in this secret. I failed her, again. Adrien please stop doing this to me." Merissa groaned and let her weight fall on the bed. She pulled the covers up and laid her head on the pillow. She turned her head towards me and giggled. She looked really tired but still her blue eyes were full of life. "Now you are thinking. Why am I not a cat?"

"Yes, I am." I replied a bit embarrassed. I mean its such a stupid question.

"Oh Adrien, Why does your father shield you from such a beautiful world? I mean so many girls would have a crush on you. You are too cute. Let me tell you this, green eyes and blonde hair and adorable face will get you anything. " Merissa pinched my cheeks. "Let the 'anything' be croissants and cheese because that is your breakfast. Go eat."

"But the story.." I whined. I want to know why I am not a cat.

"Fine fine. Don't tell your mother or that Gabriel Agreste that I told you this." Her pinky finger entwined onto mine. "Pinky promise?"

"Pinky promise."

"So basically, your mom was originally married to your dad due to business reasons. She being a model and him, being a fashion designer and all. There wasn't 'love' in their marriage. Which usually often lead to fights and arguments. They never once loved each other let alone liked each other as humans or fellow companions."

"One month after their marriage your mom got pregnant with you. But it wasn't your father who…. Is the biological one. So he was angry and demanded an abortion. Your mother demanded you to have a life and there were all this useless dramas and media gossip which I won't go into detail because you are too young for that."

"But… I need to know the full story."

"Adrien you are asking yourself why you are not a cat. You have already learned about the human anatomy yet, your heart is like a child. It is a good thing to have a child like heart but this is why I cant tell you." Merissa coughed. She has been quiet sick lately. "Now lets continue. Your actual father is Chat Noire who is not a cat. I repeat. He is not a cat. He is a hero of this city. He keeps you safe and makes sure your nightmares aren't real. Your mother was and is still in 'love' with him and you are the truth that they love each other. End of story."

"So he is my father? I want to meet him without his mask!" I said excitedly and my bedroom doors open revealing my mother wearing a silk robe.

"Merissa.." My mother said sternly as she entered my room. Merissa quickly got off the bed and dusted her skirt while my mother laughed. "Its fine that you told him. It saves me time. Adrien we are running out of time and we need to run away tonight. No questions."

"Running away?" Where are we going to go? How are we going to go. Father is going to get us again! What if he takes out the whip this time? I had so many questions but I knew mother was busy preparing. Mother crouched down to my height while I sat on the bed and held two of my hands.

"I'm sorry Adrien. Its all my fault. All I wanted was a good childhood for you but I screwed up. Big time, and now I have to fix it. But the thing is I can't fix it. Ever since you were born I cant turn back time." My mother gave a weak smile. Her blonder hair was cut short and her green eyes reflects the deepest forest green from the afternoon sunlight. "I love you and I don't want to change that. I don't want to turn back time to change you from ever being born. Whatever we are going through right now and the future, we will go through it together." She gave a tight hug. She smelled of fresh strawberries. She was probably at the garden today.

"So Allison. Can you run away? Wouldn't Master come after you with a chainsaw?" Merissa asked.

"Oh please, I can survive his death threats. I have been doing that ever since I married long as my Mircaulous is with me I will be fine. Now all I need is to do something for Adrien. I mean I can't leave him here to be tortured. Gabriel wont let him see the light of day." Allison gave a bittersweet laugh. "We will have to see tonight.."

Night fell and I didn't know what to do. Should I be happy about this? About that I wont have any more scars on my body by the number of times father whipped me for behaving horribly. But I am also disrespecting him. He did care. On his own way. Maybe it was my fault for not understanding his ambitions. Maybe it is. Maybe it isn't. It was way past my bed time. I was going to be free and I can finally start a new life. Be different. Make friends…. Finally… experience being an actual child.

Sure I had 'friends' now and then. Most being fake and running after my family's money. Others wanting popularity and there is this one group of people who lead me to believe that they are actual friends, in turn one year later they turned their backs completely against me and started to bully me at school. That's when Father stopped making me go to school and start take tutor lessons. It helped me avoid them but not much on the 'friends' part but Merissa is always there for all the adventures.

"Psst. Adrien." Merissa slowly opened my bedroom door. "C'mon. Your mother is outside." Quickly I got up and picked up my packed bag and started to run through the hallways. Was I going to miss these grey walls with red flower vases for a 'hint of colour'? No. All I will remember is the sound of crashing vases and the number of times I cut myself accidently because of it. Was I going to miss the grand living room with a sliding door leading to a mini waterpark? No, I wouldn't. The feeling of multiple times I drowned while trying to teach myself how to swim will be traumatic forever. No matter how much I try to forget it.

When we reached the main grand doors to this house Merissa stopped me. "Wait." She looked around for a minute and ran to the corner of a room. She lightly patted the wall and a secret hallway was opened. "That's really cool." I exclaimed as I ran towards her and she smiled.

"My family has been serving yours for a long time. When work gets hectic you need short cuts. Now lets go Adrien." She led me through a series of different doors and passage ways. We even climbed up some staircases before reaching a really dusty room.

"Welcome to your attic Adrien." She gestured her hand around the place. Old portraits hung on the walls with boxes and boxes in front of them piling on top of each other. "This place looks really cool in the summer mornings. The way the sun light basks here from the sky light, its just amazing. If I have enough time I could clean it and decorate it but you wont be able to see it anymore.." She started to cough heavily. Blood started to come out of her mouth and her feet looked like it wouldn't be able to hold her weight anymore. "We both have to leave something we are dear to. Sometimes the world is too cruel." She looked towards me and gave a weak smile.

"MERISSA!" I screamed. Her body lifelessly fell on the floor. I started to shake from head to toe. Whats going on? Where is my mother? What should I do? Is she dead? Tears started to form in my eyes. I fell on my knees and started to shake her body violently. Nothing happened. I tried doing CPR. I waited for her eyes to at least flutter open or her chest to at least rise. But all I got was a taste of a metal blood that made me want to vomit.

"Merissa, I'm sorry I'm late. I had to save Paris again.." Chat jumped into the attic from the skylight. His eyes filled with horror when he saw the scene. He quickly picked me up with one hand and checked for her heart beat. Nothing. "Shit.."

"Are we going to leave her?" I ask.

"If we take her, we wont be able to do anything for her. Its best to leave her and leave an anonymous letter to Mr. Agreste." Chat rubbed his temples. "We have to also leave an anonymous note to the police if he doesn't take the letter I send seriously. Say goodbye to her Adrien. You wont see her again. "

"…Bye.. I will miss you. A lot. This world is too cruel Chat." I say after touching her bloodied face.

"Too cruel indeed."

 **I wasn't going to post this till I wrote the second chapter. But its too beautiful to be left like this. Though it has been left unread for about a two months because exams and procrastination.**

 **Thanks for reading whoever did and expect another chapter not very soon. I cant promise you anything. Sorry.**

 **Crystal 3604**


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